Apple TV raises your electricity bills

Don Trammell wrote:
Significant is relevant. What is significant to you, might not be to me.

I am currently in working in Finland. I saw my bi-monthly electric bill go from 45€ to approximately 75€ since I have had my ATV. For me this is significant.

So, my claim still stands that the Apple TV in my opinion, and based on my experience and set of facts derived from usage, will raise your electricity bill significantly.

I respect your opinion, though I strongly disagree with it, and of course in your OP you presented it as fact, not opinion.

An increase of that order of magnitude is very unlikely to be caused by a device which draws a maximum of 22 watts. Put another way, if the TV really did boost your bill that much, then if you plug in one more average table lamp you will see an even bigger increase, which kind of flies in the face of common sense. I think Meg is on the right track asking about your fridge 😉.

-dan

some people in various posts have been saying 48Watt

According to Apple's specs page on their web site, 48 watts is the maximum rated output of the power supply in the TV.

That's still less than an average table lamp, of course, and various users have measured power consumption and come up independently with the 22/17 figures. I have a watt meter but have not gotten around to measuring my TV, so that's not personally verified, but at least it is more than just an opinion.

Speaking of facts, here's an update. I just plugged my TV into my Kill-A-Watt P3 and on bootup it registers a maximum of 23 watts, settles down to 22 when running, and uses 18-19 (fluctuates) while sleeping.

-dan

Message was edited by: DanH to add actual wattage measurements

I saw my bi-monthly electric bill go from 45€ to approximately 75€ since I have had my ATV.

I presume you mean every two months when you say "bi-monthly".

So you say the AppleTV costs you 30€ every two months, or 15€ per month.

The AppleTV (when left powered up) pulls in about 22 watt-hours every hour, 528 watt-hours per day. For a 30 day month, the AppleTV uses 15,480 watt-hours per month, or 15.5 kWh per month.

Since you say your bill is 15€ higher per month due to the AppleTV, you must be paying about 1€ per kWh for your electricity. Correct?

So, my claim still stands that the Apple TV in my opinion, and based on my experience and set of facts derived from usage, will raise your electricity bill significantly.

More precisely, without the hyperbole, the AppleTV will raise your electric bill each month by the amount you pay for about 15 kWh of electricity.

For me, that is less than $3 per month.

Speaking of facts, here's an update. I just plugged my AppleTV into my Kill-A-Watt P3 and on bootup it registers a maximum of 23 watts, settles down to 22 when running, and uses 18-19 (fluctuates) while sleeping.

I plugged my AppleTV into my wattmeter.

Booting up: varies between 20 and 22 watts
Sitting at main menu: 22 watts
Standby: initially 17 watts, dropping to 15 watts after 15 mintues or so.

For comparison purposes, I measured my HD Tivo DVR.

Booting: 29 to 36 watts
Sitting at main menu: 33 watts
Standby: 32 watts


By comparison, the AppleTV looks to use roughly half the power as the Tivo DVR.

For comparison purposes, I measured my HD Tivo DVR.

Booting: 29 to 36 watts
Sitting at main menu: 33 watts
Standby: 32 watts


By comparison, the AppleTV looks to use roughly half the power as the Tivo DVR.

Thanks for the figures. Very interesting. I will perhaps re-think the Tivo purchase. Yes, I know it would have been overkill..... 🙂

Very interesting. I should have waited the 15 minutes to see what happens when the HD spins down, so thanks for doing that for me.

-dan

Don't encourage me! 😉